Similarly, candidates for the Public Service Award have provided outstanding public service to their communities by participating in government or with charitable or religious organizations, providing humankind with medical or environmental well-being, and being of service to Colorado State University.

We are proud to introduce the 2023 recipients.

Career Achievement

The dedication of Harry William “Bill” Ellis (B.S., ’64; CERT., ’64; M.Ed., ’68) to improving the physical health and wellness of Colorado State University students, faculty, and staff continues to be experienced today. His vision and tenacity were key to the construction of the Student Recreation Center and other amenities that contribute to the student experience and increase academic performance. Those accomplishments didn’t happen overnight, and the decades of hard work required to make them a reality had humble beginnings.

Ellis came to CSU in 1960 as a first-generation student on a basketball scholarship. He worked part-time in the men’s intramural sports program with the late Burdette “Bo” Cowel, former director and professor emeritus, at a time when students had limited access to sports facilities. After graduating, he taught and coached at Akron High School in Colorado before returning to CSU three years later to earn a master’s degree and work in intramural sports again. With his master’s degree, he became the director of the recreation program at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, where he developed a student recreation program. In 1972, Cowel retired, and Ellis returned to CSU as the new director.

Under Ellis’ leadership, the men’s and women’s intramural program was integrated into a single program, and oversight of club sports was added to his role. Student interest in physical fitness began growing nationally in the late 1970s, and colleges and universities around the country began building student recreation centers. During the 1977-1978 school year, Ellis worked with students on a referendum to begin funding campus recreation through student fees. He continued to champion a recreation center with the University administration until the mid-1980s, when the students voted to increase their fees to construct a 75,000-square-foot building, which opened in 1989. Other student-initiated fee increases have renovated and expanded the space into the 102,000-square-foot facility it was when he retired in 2001.

During his tenure as director of recreational sports, he also envisioned and oversaw other projects, including enhancements to the intramural practice fields (one of which is named B.C. Cowel Field), such as the installation of an inline hockey arena and basketball and sand volleyball courts. In August 2001, the 32-acre Student Recreation Center and fields were named one of seven nationwide “Sports Facilities of the Year” by the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association.

Beyond programs and facility improvements, Ellis had a heart for students. He mentored, counseled, and encouraged numerous students throughout his career, and he provided ongoing support and insights to CSU graduates who pursued careers in collegiate recreation nationwide. He’s consulted on programs and facilities throughout Colorado and in several states.

When Ellis retired in 2001, he had a long-standing reputation for giving back to institutions that made a difference in his life. He was a lifelong member and donor to NIRSA and, in 1995, he received the Merit Award, the organization’s second-highest honor. Ellis is also a longtime donor to CSU, a lifetime member of the Alumni Association, and a member of the Frontier Society, which recognizes those who have made planned gifts to the University.

Public Service

Giving back comes naturally to Jo Ann (Hamil) Ostwald (B.S., ’58). Her easy smile and steadfast commitment to her local community is more than something she does; it is who she is.

Since 1960, she and her husband, Don (B.S., ’55; D.V.M., ’57) have lived in Fort Morgan, Colorado, a city with a population of 11,500 located southeast of Fort Collins. That same year, Ostwald was elected to the Republican Precinct Committee, and later served as the Morgan County campaign chairperson for one of former state Sen. Hank Brown’s campaigns for the 4th Congressional District.

Ostwald taught language arts at Fort Morgan High School from 1976 to 1998. When her two children were younger, she served as a Cub Scout den leader and spearheaded one of the first 4-H Rocketry Clubs, which helped young people learn how to design and build rockets to encourage careers in science and the aerospace industry. She also served for eight years as a 4-H Foods leader, teaching food safety and preservation techniques.

For more than six decades, the Ostwalds have been active members of the Christ Congregational Church. Ostwald has sung in the choir, represented the church at district and state meetings, and volunteered in various capacities, including as an executive board member of Caring Ministries of Morgan County and working in the organization’s store.

Beginning in the mid-1970s, Ostwald served for many years with the Colorado Plains Medical Center Foundation, which is improving health care in the county. In 1997, she joined the governing board for the Colorado Plains Medical Center (now St. Elizabeth Hospital) and served as president during her last year in 2006. Ostwald’s husband was a veterinarian and a member of the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association. She was active in the auxiliaries for both associations. She was twice elected president of the CVMA Auxiliary and was named CVMA Auxiliary Member of the Year in 1997. In 2000, she was elected president of the AVMA Auxiliary.

In the late 1990s, Ostwald was an integral part of establishing the Morgan County Alumni Scholarship fund and creating the annual “Giovanni” Golf Tournament that supports it. She worked with the Morgan County CSU Alumni chapter, helping to organize fundraising for 25 years. Since the fund’s inception, 84 scholarships totaling nearly $100,000 have been awarded to incoming students from Morgan County high schools. The Ostwalds have continued to support scholarships and programs at CSU since 1972.

In 1998, Ostwald began volunteering as a driver for Meals on Wheels, and during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she became the site supervisor for elderly shut-ins to keep the service going. She currently serves one day a week as a desk clerk for both Meals on Wheels and her church, and volunteers at the Gene Doty Senior Center in Fort Morgan.

Over the years, Ostwald’s many contributions to the Fort Morgan community have been recognized in numerous ways. In 2003, she received the CSU Alumni Association’s Charles A. Lory Public Service Award, and in 2007, The Fort Morgan Times honored her with an Angel Among Us award.